khmer sources

Ex-Khmer Rouge minister loses appeal against detention

PHNOM PENH (AP) - A former female minister of the Khmer Rouge regime has lost her appeal against detention by Cambodia's genocide tribunal where she is being held on charges of crimes against humanity.

In their ruling, judges of the U.N.-assisted tribunal's pretrial chamber Wednesday upheld the current detention of 76-year-old Ieng Thirith, who served as the social affairs minister during the rule of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.

The "detention remains a necessary measure'' for Ieng Thirith, Prak Kimsan, the chairman of the five-judge panel, said, adding that her appeal was dismissed.The tribunal is seeking justice for atrocities committed by the ultra-communist Khmer Rouge when it ruled Cambodia from 1975-79, with some 1.7 million people dying from starvation, disease, overwork and execution.